Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

So what does the 2023 season look like? Charlotte seemed unusually quiet on major announcements for 2023.  A number of teams have already said they are coming back.  What happens with KKR,, mainly Sweet if the outlaws don't let them run the High Limit Open races?  What is Sheldon going to do in 2023? It's no secret the team and ownership have been less than pleased the last quarter of the year with the Outlaws, and the last you tube video Sheldon made seems like Ripper might like to be home more, which who can blame anyone with a family to not be gone for months on end.   

I think Sweet and Haud are the most likely candidates to drop off full time and Courtney and possibly Gio the most likely candidates to go full time but a lot needs to be settled. 

Flo had a lot of coverage from Charlotte including highlight packages baked into the interviews with the winners and LucasOil allowed their announcer to fill in so there seems to still be cooperation amongst the 2 big streaming services. Might that extend to the High Limit deal? Will the WoO schedule a few more mid week shows to screw with High Limit? It's definitely going to be the most interesting off-season since 2005.

I think the guys like Sweet and others who want to run High  Limit or whatever its called will run outlaws, but not as platinum members which they could do..Run outlaws regularly, get points but no extra pay the Platinum guys get.

That platinum deal puts 100k + in there pockets. 

I do not forsee anyone like Brad or Sheldon dropping off the Outlaw tour. Just doesn't make sense $$ wise, even with the purse structure of the new midweek series. Especially since a majority of guys like Brad and Sheldon drive for another car owner and I do not see KKR or Stenhouse ditch the WoO with all of the travel money and membership bonuses to go along with potential winnings. While yeah, a team could run the High Limit series, drivers and teams of that caliber are going to want to run the Husets 250k race, Kings Royal, Knoxville Nationals, Jackson Nationals, National Open, a variety of $20k to win races, and sprinkle in a few other races. When you factor in that number of races to travel back and forth with no tow money it does not make much sense. The new series is just new and could still fall flat (hope that it doesn't) since it is still heavily dependent on Flo subscriptions. We are still in the learning process of live streaming and it is the future but if the series does not justify the cost then the teams have no where to go.

What I do not know is if the Platinum membership is based on team owner or drivers or both? If it is just the owner then there could be a bit of a loophole that the outlaw guys have which they could race for another car owner or race their "own" car with the other series. 

Just saw where McFadden will be back with Roth and Toyota next year.

I agree with you I don't see alot of guys dropping off even if the WoO plays hardball. But this is Sweet's baby, it would be very odd to see him promoting the races and not racing in them. 

I am not sure what the policy is nowadays, but i believe it was based on the owners car in the past.  I remember when Jac was still in the 22 car and Blaney was in the 93 car. They showed up for an All Star race in different cars at Eldora.  Dave was in his a 10 car (not the vivarin car) and Jac was in a 40 car. I remember it like yesterday because they darn near lapped the field. They were bouncing the right rear off of the wall in two and four on every lap and we're the only ones doing it. It was one of those races I'll never forget. So in years past i believe they were allowed to race another car not affiliated with the Outlaws. That was when Ted Johnson ran things so that policy might have changed under the current ownership.

Where do you get that figure from?

Inferring from point fund which is published, bonus money which was disclosed in a press release to be between $500-$1000 per race per team, and the widely known tow money of around $500 per event (not per race, so if the Grove has a 2 day show, the teams get $500 for towing there, not $1000). 

For example, Carson Macedo would have gotten $75k for finishing 3rd in points, over 70 events say he averaged $700 per race for bonus money and got $25k for tow money. That's an extra $150k plus being loyal. 

I seem to remember reading that they got paid a lower per diem for multiple day shows and that the tow money was $700 for a one day show. So a two day show would break down something like $700 for day one, and $300 for day two. Could have been hersey.

Would not be surprised to see Marks back on the tour. 

I just do not see WOO kicking top teams off of the tour.  WOO really do not have alot of members that they can not cooperate with them.  Also Sweet promotes a race then takes home the money does not really lookm good.

I agree with all of that plus, by not being a platinum they would not be able to bring their t shirt trailer at most tracks

I agree no way they will run the WOO and not be platinum members way to much to lose by not being platinum members! 

They are receiving  money for agreeing to follow the tour. I've been told it can be 1000 to 1500 per race. Four pit passes per event,  plus more. It may have changed some what but this was what I was told. Add that up for how many races ? Again, it's what keeps some of them following the series. SWEET/LARSON for what I understand are not offering any type of incentive to race with them. 

They aren't but 10 higher paying races of over 20 grand.....and 2 races at 50 grand.  That is incentive enough to race with them......when 50%  "probably higher" of the outlaw races pay 10 grand to win.  

Let's go Sprint Car Racing!

Knoxville - Best Track In the USA!
Eldora - 2nd Best Track in the USA!

In this weeks AARN, Sweet is quoted that he doesn't know if he'll be back in 2023 as a full timer. 

Also, the Woo plans to release their schedule, wait for High Limit to release theirs and speak to promoters potentially affected by having the WoO drivers at the High Limit shows to see what they think about letting the Woo guys race the HL shows. This could be posturing but it's the first indication there could some wiggle room. 

The teams for their part are requesting more streaming money to be put into the point fund and some are requesting only 1 Cali swing (but that's been a request for years)

A big shocker was that while Brian Carter, WRG CEO said he was pleased with the Xtreme Midget series, the Xtreme sprint series was a disappointment and apparently he indicated the sprint series may not continue or would be cosanctioned with USAC to keep it going. 

None of these tidbits are direct quotes other than Sweet's, so who knows if the write misconstrued some things, but interesting nonetheless. 

Is KKR still based out of North Carolina or did they move to indiana  ? Remember Sweet resides in CA. Because of business I could see him dropping off the tour. What Marks did this year, 800k, I think made teams rethink things. I'm sure that the outlaw officials are watching closely.

Last I heard they were still in N.C.